So the guys I hang out with have been setting up beverage antennas for 160m in preparation for several contests this winter. We have an inverted L for transmit and have plans for another transmit antenna later. The plan was for one of the guys to bring his TS-940 and Alpha amplifier. I mentioned my K2 and they said "Sure, bring it along, it would be interesting to give it a try if we get a chance."
So I show up late on Friday night to find the guys packing up radios. Seems there was some kind of problem with the transmit antenna which ruled out using the Alpha and would require a tuner. And what do you know, the tuner they had either wouldn't or couldn't tune 160m. I set up K2/100 #4941 with KAT100, my microHam microKeyer and laptop running WriteLog, all integrated with the K2 and in just a few minutes we're on the air. The KAT100 said the antenna was 3:1 to start with but quickly tuned it to 1:1. Apparently they hadn't really been able to tell the difference between receiving on the transmit antenna vs. receiving on the beverage with the 940. They questioned whether the beverage was working right. A flick of the RANT menu item on the K2 demonstrated just what we wanted to hear: the overall volume level was higher with the inverted L but the noise level was significantly lower with the beverage. First CQ we hear is a little weak and there's a pile-up for him. "You'll never break through the pile-up with only 100W." (Remember 100W is QRP to these guys.) I toss our call into the pile and the response is immediate. About now was the first of what was to be several comments from the owner of the 940 throughout the night, who admitted, "My radio sucks." You guys know the story. It's a joy to be able to turn on the 100 hz filter and just work your way up the band working everyone you can hear. There were 2 or 3 DX stations that we could hear but who weren't hearing us or any of the stations we could hear calling them. Not unexpected on this band where a good receive antenna is well worth the trouble. Anyway there aren't many CW ops in our group so operating time was limited but we made about 450 Qs and 70 sections. Oh and here's the kicker: I hadn't mentioned when I offered to bring the rig that I hadn't yet built the 160m board for it. I was able to add 160m and a separate receive antenna and have it working in just a couple hours. What a wonderful little radio! Craig NZ0R K2/100 #4941 K1 #1966 KX1 #1499 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
